Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

Father as coach not new for Fernandez family

CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL Maryville College soccer coach Pepe Fernandez and his son Chris, a senior at Maryville High School, pose for a photo on Thursday at Maryville High School. Chris Fernandez will play for his dad next fall.(Photo: CAITIE MCMEKIN)

Maryville High School senior Chris Fernandez was playing Little League baseball the last time he was coached by his father, Pepe.

It worked then, so why not now?

Fernandez, a midfielder chosen to the PrepXtra first team last year, will continue his soccer career at Maryville College, where Pepe is the longtime men and women's soccer coach.

'It will be an experience,' Chris said. 'My dad hasn't ever been my soccer coach. It will be something new. We've talked about it. I'm sure I'll be treated just like any other player.'

Pepe can't wait to resume his role as father-coach with Chris as they did in Little League baseball.

'I have real special memories of doing that,' Pepe said. 'I had a good time with it, and I think the chance to be around your son in a sports atmosphere is pretty special.'

Chris Fernandez wasn't always sure he wanted to stay home for his college soccer career. He had several other college options including Division I offers from Elon, High Point and Stetson.

'For a while I thought I wanted to get away from Maryville, but in reality Maryville College is where I grew up, and it was the only place I wanted to go to college,' Chris said.

'I've lived 5 minutes from campus my entire life and I've been going to games since I was a little boy. I was even doing warm-ups with the team when I was 3 or 4 years old.'

Friends and family also influenced Fernandez's decision to play at Maryville College.

His older brother Marc, who also played soccer at Maryville High, played at Maryville College for their father and graduated in 2013.

Marc is now an English teacher and soccer coach at Union Grove Middle School in Blount County.

'As a parent, I'm really excited about the education you get here (at Maryville College),' Pepe said. 'Our older son came here and played soccer. Academically, Maryville College transformed him into a good student.'

Chris has six cousins who have attended Maryville College, and three of his former teammates at Knoxville's FC Alliance will be sophomores for the Scots: Aaron Rummel (South-Doyle), Ian Schomer (Bearden), and Austin Foy (Farragut).

Starting this fall, Fernandez will room with Bearden senior Jameson Elmore, who will also play soccer for the Scots. They're good friends.

'Me and Jameson have been playing together since we were 13 or 14 years old,' Fernandez said. 'We're on the same club team, and we compete against each other in high school. It's going to be exciting getting to room with him.'

Their high school rivalry resumed Thursday night when Bearden played at Maryville in a District 4-AAA match. Bearden's coach is Ryan Radcliffe, another former Maryville College and Bearden player.

Pepe will monitor the Maryville versus Bearden match and his two recruits.

'It's exciting,' he said. 'They're both good students and good kids.'

Perhaps nobody is happier to have Chris playing at Maryville College than his mother, Fran.

She would have logged plenty of driving miles to watch him play elsewhere in college.

'I know my mom would have gone anywhere to see me play,' Chris said. 'It's going to be a lot easier for her to just drive down the road and watch me, and with my dad coaching both teams at Maryville College, I highly doubt if he would ever have seen me play.'